Safe Air - Phasing out of Bristol Freighters in 1985 and closing down in 1990

Safe Air (a subsidiary of NAC  (then Air NZ post merger) from 1972) was once a stalwart operator of both Wellington and Blenheim airports, and I grew up with the drone of Bristol Freighters taking off from Wellington Airport multiple times each day, with their piston engines and bumble bee shape, and less frequently the quiet but larger and visually appealing Armstrong-Whitworth Argosy aircraft with their bulbous nose and twin tails, and as the only four-engined turboprops to fly regularly to and from Wellington, besides occasional visits by RNZAF Hercules (since the demise of the NAC Vickers Viscounts 1in 1975). It is remarkable how important air cargo was for decades across Cook Strait, reflecting a time when shipping was largely not containerised, and the inter island ferries had little competition for freight.  Today most domestic air cargo goes in the belly of scheduled passenger services, with the exception of air cargo Boeing 737s flown by Parcelair between several main centres.

First is an article about the end of the Bristol Freighters in 1985. The Bristol Freighters were unpressurised, and mostly flew freight inter island between Wellington and Blenheim (and before the opening of Wellington Airport in 1959 flew freight from Paraparaumu, under contract for the Railways Department).  The Bristol Freighters also operated until 1982, regular (subsidised contracted to the Department of Internal Affairs) services to the Chatham Islands, carrying passengers as well. This is more fully described in the 3rd Level blog here.  Passengers were also carried in small numbers across Cook Strait if accompanying freight such as cars, but the experience was far from pleasant, with earmuffs supplied in the latter years. For aircraft manufactured 1951-1958, the Bristol Freighters operated for a long time in NZ, and for some years Safe Air was the world's largest operators of Bristol Freighters. 

The second article is about the withdrawal of the Argosy aircraft, which primarily operated freight services between the main centres, including overnight between Auckland and Christchurch. The Argosy were noted for having a purpose-built passenger capsule that was inserted into the pressurised cabin, to carry passengers on the Chatham Islands route.  The Chatham's Island service ended in 1990 following decision by the Government to cease subsidies for the route, the age of the Argosy aircraft and a significant downturn in air cargo demand.  Air NZ chose to cease Safe Air's airline operations that year. The Chathams were subsequently serviced by Mount Cook Airline HS748s on a commercial basis, but also saw the small local airline Air Chathams acquire aircraft of sufficient size to fly to the North and South Islands, which it continues today (Mount Cook Airline discontinued services in 1996 as it was phasing out the HS748 and had decided the replacement ATR72 aircraft could not operate the service economically).